Clip for sales-books.



c. P. L. ABELL. CLIP FOR SALES BOOKS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 30. 1913.

Patented Aug. 1, 1916.

R o m E v m 1T Es E ATTORNEY m- Nonms Fergus cu.. Moro-mwa, wAsnmc nm. av cv EI) STATES` PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES P. L. ABELL, OF'ARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 WILLIAM 'J1'. ABELL, OF'ARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA.

Y CLIP FOR SALES-BOOKS.

Specification of Letters Patent. l

Patented Aug. 1,1916.

l, Application led'October 30, '1913i' Serial No. 798,170.

To all whom z't'mag/ concern Be it known thatv I, CiIARLnsP-L. ABELL, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Ardmore, in tliecounty of Montgomeryand State of Pennsylvania, have invented' a certain new and useful Clip for Sales-Books, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to pad-likebooks intended for temporary use and` interchangeable Within covers, and particularly to the means for securing them Within the covers. These books atipresent find their greatest use as sales booksl and order books but are applicable to and used in a great variety of locations and uses not coming' within either name. Iv refer to them generally herein as sales'booksf for convenience in reference, regardless of their functiony and of whether theybe intendedtomakeone or more copies of the writing therein or not.

The purpose of my invention is to provide spring clip means lfor attachment of sales books to covers which can be applied to books already constructed, bythe manufac# turer or the customer or built into books during construction, at will.

I have lpreferred'to illustrate my invention by' a type thereof, which hasproved/ to be practicable, inexpensive andeffective `and whichat the same time well illustrates the principles involvediy L Figure 1 is a plan viewpartly sectional and partly broken away, of a cover and pad united by aV clip which embodies the preferred formof my invention. Fig. 2 is a broken section' of' Fig. l on line 2 2. Fig.` 3 is a broken section of Fig..2, upon line 3 3. Fig. t is a perspective view off the form of clip shown inV Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Figs. 5, 7, 8 and 10 are sections correspond'- ing with Fig. 2 but of modi-lied forms of' my invention. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a clip and washer strip shown in Fig. 5.' Fig.9 is a broken perspectiveview showing a modification of the device for fastening the clip to a pad. Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a washer plate whichimay be used by me.

My invention is shown as applied to a simple form of standard cover and sales book and is suited to unite existing sales books with a considerable variety of covers now on the market.

I have preferred the form of attaching clip shown in the first four figures and modiedf in Figs. sanas, because ofthe ease'ofl its attachment tovcovers already in the hand of agents or customers, made by many different' manufacturers, aswell as to substantially ally of vthose in the course of manufacture.v

I have intended to' illust'ratethe simplest form of standard cover and pad in which the rigid cove1',back`-1 is ,united to the rigid coverfront 2` by the flexible hinge portion 3 and-v inV which the` stubportionl' of the sales book bis secured to they cover' back l by means of? a stift tongueor tang5.

Obviously, various refinements of book construction andv cover'may be'futilized and' the tangv rmay be ofthe ordinary short form or extend* the full length ofthe sales book andmay beofj any shape desired.

Inorder to make the attachment of this tang 5' moreA ready and' adapty itl to sales books withoutv pockets for *the tangs reception, I provided my clip 6 comprising a resilientVVV front portion, shown as VaI plate, adapted to be' sprung transversely by pressure upon and movement' of 'its' endsI ytoward each` other, and" a rear portion of' any vsuitable characte'rcapable of attachment to the cover without inter-ference with this movement.

The attaching plate 7v is preferablyinte- 'gral with the resilientfr-ontv 8 which is adapted tobebowedl or sprung awayffroni the general line or plane of the plateI 7 to admit` the tang 5 withinl the space' 9. The front 8 normally liesf close -tofor presses against the attaching'plate, in my preferred form, gripping the tangfbetween them when the tang is in place. The bowing of the front? to releasefthe tang or permit its insertion is accomplishe'dby pressure against the ends 10 and 11l pressing them toward each other.

Theba'ck member 7 lis shown as ribbed at 12 for the purpose' of stiifening'it' against bending; This is of special value where the back member is built into lthe cover as it allows the yfront member to be Ibowed without bending of the back member'and also may'coperatewith a transverse groove in the cover. The rib also takes shearing strain from the attaching rivets and provides a groove within which these rivets 13 may be turned. The back plate, with most 'sti' back covers would be sufliciently stiffened bythe riveting of the plate near opposite ends to the cover back not to require the rib.

In order that the front plate or member of my clip shall bear against the tang reliably and to the best advantage, I give it an initial curvature resulting in the divergence of the front plate (Fig. fl) from the attaching plate increasing from their juncture toward the free end of the front plate. The initial bowing is straightened out by overlapping the free end of the back by the reversely turned portion la of the front.

Movement of the ends 10 and 11 toward each other, bows the front member 8 alone to approximately the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and the relative movement of these ends is provided for by movement of the free end of the front over the back member, here embracing the end 15 of the back member but not united to it.

The ends 10 and 11 are preferably slightly curved to reduce tendency to breakage at the bend and allow easier separation of the parts at the end, as well as to provide a desired slight separation between the front and back members at 1G and 17, where the bowing is least effective to separate the parts. This prevents pinching of the edges of the tang between the front and back members during the insertion of the tang and permits this insertion as soon as the front and back members have been separated between these points sufficiently for the tang to enter.

In applying the clip 6 to new books, a depression 18 is desirable across the back of the cover corresponding with the rib 12, though preferably not quite as deep as this rib, so that the end 14 may be free to slide without thinning the back for it.

In the case of covers already manufactured, the rib 12 will be fitted against the flat surface of the inside of the back of the cover.

Whether the clip be attached to covers before or after their manufacture, it is desirable that the ends 10 and 11 shall not project beyond the edge line 19 of the back of the cover, in order that the metal of the clip may not wear the pocket nor catch against objects, and for this reason it is desirable that at least one of the edges of the back of the cover be recessed slightly as at 20, 21 to any appropriate extent and shape to prevent interference by it with the movement of the thumb or finger toward the middle of the cover, when pressing the ends 10 and 11 together to separate the front and back portions of the clip.

My preferred form of attachment for the clip is by pronged rivets such as illustrated at 13, inserted from the outsideof the back of the cover; and I provide for these by aperturing the back of the clip at any suitable points 22, preferably within a reinforcing rib or a recess so that the rivet 'may be turned between the front and back strips of the clip. As seen in Fig. 2, when these lie within the reinforcing rib, the upper surface of the turned end of the rivet lies below the level of the face of the back strip, 73 wholly within the channel formed by the reinforcing rib. Because such fastening rivets inprevious similar uses have ordinarily made their engagement with the strip wholly at the ends 23 of the rivets, giving /L undue leverage to tend to open the rivets, I have preferred to turn the edges of the apertures 22 inwardly, toward the channel, so that these edges may engage with the rivet prongs as at 2-1- effectively to shorten this so leverage.

To attain greater convenience in turning the ends of the rivets between the two strips of my clip, I have slotted the front strip, as at 25, sufficiently to permit access to the S5 ends of the rivets.

For completeness of illustration, I have shown the usual leather facings of the front and back cover boards and the securing means for holding the sales book together.

In Figs. 8 and 9, I have shown prongs 2G stamped out of the metal of the back strip of the clip preferably in close or facing pairs, if for a flexible cover, as an attaching means for securing the clip to the cover back and show its end 27 as turned over the back of the cover board when in place. I have shown this strip as bent out from a reinforcing rib in this form notwithstanding that the desirability of such a rib with stift covers is greatly reduced when it is not intended to provide a channel for the rivet ends and the board of the back of the cover will give considerable and often sufcient stiffness against the bending of the back strip of my clip. The rib here gives a spacing from the back board of the cover to permit of free sliding of the reversely turned portion 14 and can be made to coperate with a recess or groove 18 across a pbrtion 110 of the back of the cover as shown in Fig. 2.

Where my preferred form is to be applied to flexible back covers I insert a washer plate 29 (Fig. 11) within the cover, forming it complementarily to the back member 7, inclnding the rib 12 and passing the rivets 13 through both the washer plate and back plate of the clip.

In the illustrations Figs. 1 to 4, 8, 9 and 10, the clip is preferably built into the back but slightly and may not be built into it at all, but merely riveted upon the inner surface of the cover back. One end only of the clip is intended to move in the direction of the length of the clip.

In the form shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 10, however, both ends of the clip are preferably adapted to be moved and in the structure of Figs. 5, 6 and 10, the outside of the back cover is modified. to receive the retain- 180 ing strip in Figs. and 6 and the ends of the clip in Fig. 10.

In Figs. 5, 6 and 10 I show my clip as attached to a flexible cover 1 by rivets 13, which pass through slots 28 in the ends of the clip, both ends being inwardly extended preferably farther than 14 in the form shown in Figs. l` to 4 and both terminated short of the center of the clip and slotted to permit them to slide upon the rivets. It will not ordinarily be necessary to channel or groove the material of the clip about the slots so as to depress the head of the rivet below the plane represented by the interior surface of the ends of thev clip as the rivet head offers little interference to the insertion of the sales book tang and the structure is fully operative in the form illustrated. I have, therefore, not channeled this form. The two ends together here coperate to form a back member or retaining member for the clip and' this form is intended to be representative of a considerable variety of possible forms in which there is no fixed retaining member at the back, z'. e., the retaining member is not integral with the front member or may slide bodily.

- With the flexible cover I find it quite desirable to provide some structure reinforcingV the cover where the rivets are turned. I provide it within the back of the cover and accomplish this result at the same time that I retain the rivets in definite spaced position by means of any suitable plate 29 which is apertured, as at 30, for passage of the rivets and is ribbed at 12 between the apertures. In this case, Figs. 5, 6 and 10, as also in Fig. 7, there is not the same desirability of slotting the front of the strip as at 25, in Fig. l, since the rivet is turned at the back. There is, also, not the same desirability of recessing the edges of the back, as at 20, 21, in this form because of the flexibility of the back and the fact that the plate 29 need not be nearly as long as the clip 6.

In the form shown in Fig.7, the clip 6 is applied to a stiff back which is preferably grooved transversely, part way from each edge, to the width of the ends 14 of the clip, as at 3l, in order that the front 8 of the clip may be spaced substantially the same distance from the back cover at the middle as from the inside surface of the ends. The stiffening of the cover, as at 32, is suiiicient to effectively take the place of the strip 2-9.

|Ihe clip of the character shown in -6 may be applied to embrace the back of the cover, whether the back be flexible or stiff'. In this case I provide additional space between the ends l-l and the front of the clip on account of theadditional thickness of the back therebetween. I have shown this form as applied to flexible covers in Fig. 10, utilizing a strip 29 between the back of the cover and the front 8 of the clip 6.

It will be evident that my clip may be varied both in construction and location within the spirit and scope of the claims herein, without departing from my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. resilient front piece and a back piece connected therewith at one end, theother end of the front piece being reversely turned to engage with the back piece and to slide thereon in combination with a sales book cover and means attaching the back piece to said cover. 2. A sales book cover in combination with a clip comprising a resilient front strip, a back strip connected therewith at one end and channeled throughout a portion of its length and means for attaching the back strip to the cover.

3. A sales book and a cover in combination with a clip comprising a front strip, flat throughout the greater part of its length forwardly projected in proximity to its ends and reversely turned at one end, a back strip connected with the front strip at one end,

stiffened throughout a portion of its length p and slidable at its opposite end between the reversely turned end of the front strip and the front strip and means for securing the clip to the cover.

1l. A sales book cover, a clip secured thereto and comprising a back strip stiffened throughout a portion of its length and apertured within the stiffened portion, providing a recess for fastening means about the apertures and a resilient front strip connected with the back strip at one end, tending to lie at an angle with the back strip throughout its length and reversely turned at the opposite end to embrace the end of the 'back strip and retain the front strip generally parallel therewith;

5. A sales book cover, a clip secured thereto and comprising a stiffened back member and a resilient front member connected therewith at one end and means connected with the opposite end to engage and slide with respect to the back member.

6. A sales book cover, a clip secured thereto and comprising a resilient front portion, a back portion adapted for attachment to the cover, and with respect to which at least one end of the front portion is longitudinally movable, and means for attaching the clip permitting the ends of the clip to be pressed to-ward one another to bow the front of the clip.

7. A sales book cover', a clip secured thereto and comprising a resilient front member adapted to be bowed with pressure upon the ends toward each other, a rear member, one end o-f which is adapted to move toward and fill;

9. A sales book cover notched at one side, in Combination with a clip secured to the cover, said clip having a resilient front member which is reversely turned at one end and free to move transversely of the cover et this end7 the resilient front member being adapted to be bowed by pressure upon this end.

CHARLES P. L. ABELL.

Titnesses WM. STALL JACKSON, HELEN I. KAUFFMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

